Wheel chocks are wedge-shaped blocks that are placed against one or more of the wheels of a wheeled vehicle to restrain movement when the wheeled vehicle is parked. Although wheel chocks are rarely used on automobiles and trucks, they are frequently used to restrain the movement of aircraft parked on the ground. There are two basic reasons why wheel chocks are so commonly used for aircraft. First, most aircraft wheels do not contain brakes. Second, many types of aircraft are so light in weight that they can be moved by relatively small forces.
A variety of wheel chocks have been disclosed. The simplest wheel chocks sold commercially are two wedge-shaped members connected together with a rope. These wheel chocks are manually placed into position at the front and rear of a wheel. Other wheel chocks contain two wedge-shaped members connected together by a frame. Such wheel chocks are disclosed in Marsh, U.S. Pat. No. 2,771,162, issued Nov. 20, 1956; Rambat, U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,292, isued Feb. 4, 1964; Haynes, U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,536, issued May 21, 1974; Mountz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,325, issued Dec. 8, 1987; and Willaford, U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,210, issued Jun. 27, 1995. The major disadvantage of these wheel chocks is that they require the person positioning the wheel chock to bend down to ground level. Another disadvantage of these wheel chocks is that they provide little, if any, security against theft or unwanted removal unless some type of additional lock is used.
Accordingly, a demand exists for a wheel chock that can be moved into and out of position on a wheel by a user from a standing position and that provides improved security even without the use of an additional lock.